Evolution of generalist resistance to herbicide mixtures reveals a trade-off in resistance management

David Comont (), Claudia Lowe, Richard Hull, Laura Crook, Helen L. Hicks, Nawaporn Onkokesung, Roland Beffa, Dylan Z. Childs, Robert Edwards, Robert P. Freckleton and Paul Neve
Additional contact information
David Comont: Rothamsted Research
Claudia Lowe: Rothamsted Research
Richard Hull: Rothamsted Research
Laura Crook: Rothamsted Research
Helen L. Hicks: University of Sheffield
Nawaporn Onkokesung: Newcastle University
Roland Beffa: Bayer Crop Science, Weed Resistance Research
Dylan Z. Childs: University of Sheffield
Robert Edwards: Newcastle University
Robert P. Freckleton: University of Sheffield
Paul Neve: Rothamsted Research

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Intense selection by pesticides and antibiotics has resulted in a global epidemic of evolved resistance. In agriculture and medicine, using mixtures of compounds from different classes is widely accepted as optimal resistance management. However, this strategy may promote the evolution of more generalist resistance mechanisms. Here we test this hypothesis at a national scale in an economically important agricultural weed: blackgrass (Alopecurus myosuroides), for which herbicide resistance is a major economic issue. Our results reveal that greater use of herbicide mixtures is associated with lower levels of specialist resistance mechanisms, but higher levels of a generalist mechanism implicated in enhanced metabolism of herbicides with diverse modes of action. Our results indicate a potential evolutionary trade-off in resistance management, whereby attempts to reduce selection for specialist resistance traits may promote the evolution of generalist resistance. We contend that where specialist and generalist resistance mechanisms co-occur, similar trade-offs will be evident, calling into question the ubiquity of resistance management based on mixtures and combination therapies.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16896-0 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-16896-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16896-0

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().